Hello historians, so Im new to studying history but i reaaly dont know where to start, i wanna start learn full history ive tried different books but they seem a bit hard to comprehend. Where should i start from ? Is there a book that teaches full history without foreknowledge ?

In many communist countries during and after the Cold War (particularly in Eastern Europe and Asia-Pacific), the ruling communist party often formed "blocs" with a number of bloc/satellite parties to keep up a pretense of a "United Front" or a "National Front". Obviously in Western eyes these parties seem like they are rubberstamps in parliaments to keep up a pretense of democracies. Only during the collapse of Eastern European communist regimes in 1989 did any of these parties appear to function as autonomous political entities (like in Poland and East Germany).

But since these satellite parties existed (or exist still, in China and North Korea's cases), what exactly did they do on a day to day basis? Did party members try to distinguish themselves from the ruling parties in any meaningful way, either in terms of policies or in political identity? Did party members make any genuine efforts to formulate policies and contribute to the policymaking process? How did these parties recruit members, and what motivated members to join these auxiliaries instead of the ruling party? Did members face extra scrutiny from state security services, or did they receive special rewards for helping to keep up the facade?

Happy to receive insights for any Eastern Bloc country, as well as China and North Korea (before 2000).

On a separate question, if the US was involved in a war, could it be used as a attack ship?

I am reading a book on the tavern culture of early America and it says they drank spirits constantly. I am wondering how they managed to stay hydrated and prevent hangovers with such a rigorous drinking regimen.

My sense of this line is that it's more referring to NYC of the 21st century ("this place where you are seeing this musical is now the greatest city in the world") rather than an actual historical reality. But it did make me curious. How did Americans compare NYC to places like Boston or Philadelphia? How did they consider their cities in comparison to other major centers like London, Paris, or Vienna. And did these cities have any sense of an international reputation?

Is it at all plausible that someone like Eliza Schuyler would have considered NYC to have been a superior city to, say, Paris?

Recently there has been a lot of attention towards the land around mt Rushmore because it was pretty much stolen from the Lakota. The Lakota conquered the land and then the US government said that it was theirs in a treaty. I just don't understand why the US government didn't just take the land and not sign a treaty. Its clear that militarily the native tribes stood no chance against the increasing power of the US and its also clear that there wasn't a whole lot of sympathy towards the native tribes from the US population. Both of those are clear because of the pretty regular attrocities commited against the native tribes. So what bargaining power did the native tribes have that would motivate the US government to not conquer them completely and instead sign treaties that would give them land? Any info to add nuance or context to these decisions would be appreciated.

I'm currently dealing with a racist co worker who is telling me my understanding of history is incorrect and the civil war was not about slavery but instead states rights. Can someone please factually break it down for me so i could explain it correctly?

I was wondering how, when it used to be a normal thing back in Antiquity, did homophobia appear? What was the process through that? WHO started that? Was it always there?

The title says almost all. Did the majority of people realize that the CIA was interfering in countries like Guatemala, Chile, and Brazil, and if so, to what extent?

I was reading about her and I was just curious: Is there any actual proof that she really existed? Apparently historians are divided on this question, and I wanted to see what reddit thought about it.

After reading Machiavelli's The Prince, I am entirely convinced that mercenaries are, at most, partially effective even when paired up with a country's own army, the main arguments (mostly based on Machiavelli) that I have are:

• Mercenaries are usually more expensive to maintain
• They are not loyal to the country that hires them and only fights for the money and loot
• In contrast to mercenaries, soldiers are mostly loyal to their ruler and are willing to fight since they know that if the war is lost, all their belongings and property might be seized by the victors of the war
• If a mercenary commander is capable, they will most likely want to pursue power for themselves and there's nothing stopping them from doing so as they have an army. If the commander is incapable, they lose wars
• I know about the Swiss Guards, but they were defending their religious head after all, and I learned from a (potentially unreliable) reddit post that the Swiss Guards had houses, food, and training all supplied by the papacy for more than 20 years, so they are essentially just a regular army.

So in what ways are mercenaries effective? Their unreliable nature dictates that they can only be used to a certain extent.

I know most homes within a village had fires and kitchens at the center, especially being considered the most important/sacred part of the homes. But as I’m researching and looking at pictures, I don’t see any evidence of chimneys or other rooftop ventilation to let out smoke and such. Am I missing something or is it much more simple by just letting the window open to air it out? Thanks in advance.

In places like London or France (i.e. the bigger cities of the day) during medieval times, what did people do for jobs? Did the farmers live in the city or all outside of it?

Was it basically like current but everything's on a smaller scale? Some people work in the market selling food, a few seamstress, leather-workers, bakers, inn keepers, etc?

There weren't like Best Buy's or big grocery stores or office buildings so I'm having trouble thinking of what everyone did. Or did those things basically exist and my mental image of the middle ages is way off?

I searched and found related questions, but nothing specifically addressing what identity it was that bound the 13 but not the rest.

Been an ex-independent Baptist for about 5 years now. Over the past couple years I've realized that I don't really know anything about the real history of humanity. Going to a Christian school and church my entire life gave me a watered down christianized version of history. I'm looking for some general online sources to look at the broad history of the world and from there delve deeper into specific topics, regions, time periods, etc. What are some good unbiased online sources for learning?